Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Chicken Enchilada Casserole features all-natural ingredients like salsa verde, green chiles, and a creamy homemade sauce for the great flavor of chicken enchiladas without the work of rolling them!
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If you enjoy enchiladas, you'll also love White Chicken Enchiladas, Slow Cooker Chicken Enchiladas, or Creamy Chicken Enchiladas!
Sometimes nothing hits the spot like creamy, cheesy enchiladas! In fact, we love enchiladas so much that I often double the recipe. But since a big batch of enchiladas takes a good bit of time to roll, I've learned to go the easy route and make this stacked Chicken Enchilada Casserole instead!
And since I'm guessing that some of y'all enjoy taking the easy route as well (with delicious results, mind you), I figured I'd better share the recipe here today. 😉
I actually adapted my ever-popular King Ranch Chicken Casserole for this recipe, borrowing the ratios but changing up the flavors to turn it into an enchilada casserole instead.
Ingredients
My husband's favorite type of chicken enchiladas are the green variety, so for this Chicken Enchilada Casserole, I incorporated salsa verde into an easy, from-scratch sauce. No condensed 'Cream of X' soup here!
For the Sauce:
- Butter. Salted or unsalted will work fine.
- Garlic. Freshly minced, and I always add extra.
- Flour. I have successfully tested this sauce using regular all-purpose flour, whole wheat pastry flour, and my preferred gluten-free flour blend.
- Milk. Again, the milk you use is flexible. Whole milk, 2%, low-fat, or a non-dairy option (such as unsweetened almond milk) will all work.
- Chicken broth. Or stock. Use low-sodium if you prefer more control over the saltiness.
- Spices. Cumin, garlic powder, chili powder, salt, and pepper for seasoning the homemade sauce.
- Salsa verde + sour cream. To make a green enchilada sauce that's also creamy.
For the Enchilada Casserole:
- Shredded (or diced) chicken. If you're going for a shortcut option, feel free to pull the meat from a rotisserie chicken. However, you can easily cook your own chicken breasts in the oven, the slow cooker, the instant pot, or by poaching in simmering water on the stove.
- Corn tortillas. These shouldn't be substituted, as flour tortillas will turn gummy upon baking.
- Shredded cheese. Monterey jack is recommended, but a Mexican blend or even pepper jack (for some heat!) would work as well.
- Diced green chiles. The finishing touch!
How to Make Chicken Enchilada Casserole
(The below photos are intended to be helpful, but please refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for FULL DIRECTIONS.)
This Chicken Enchilada Casserole is as easy as alternating layers of chicken, homemade sauce, tortillas, and cheese, and then baking until bubbly.
You'll need to have your cooked and shredded/diced chicken ready to go. And then...
Make the Enchilada Sauce:
- Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant and light golden brown.
- Stir in the flour and whisk continuously for a minute.
- Slowly and gradually whisk in the milk and ½ cup of the chicken broth.
- Increase the heat to medium and stir continuously for several minutes until the sauce is smooth and thickened.
- Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the cumin, garlic powder, and chili powder.
- Stir in the salsa verde and the sour cream until smooth.
- Add salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste.
Assemble the Casserole:
- Spread half of the shredded chicken in the bottom of a greased baking dish.
- Layer with half of the sauce.
- Arrange half of the corn tortillas on top.
- Sprinkle with half of the shredded cheese.
- Drizzle with half of the remaining chicken broth.
- AND NOW REPEAT THOSE LAYERS ONCE MORE!
- Once the casserole is all layered up, sprinkle the top with diced green chiles.
- Bake until hot and bubbly and ENJOY!
Gluten-Free Option
As mentioned in the Ingredients section above, to make this Chicken Enchilada Casserole gluten-free, simply use a gluten-free flour blend in place of the regular flour. Also ensure that the corn tortillas you use are GF.
Suggested Accompaniments
I like to serve my Chicken Enchilada Casserole with sides of Easy Spanish Rice, Slow Cooker Charro Beans or Instant Pot Refried Beans, and a green salad drizzled with either Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette or Creamy Jalapeño Dip (which, incidentally, makes a to-die-for salad dressing).
And then for dessert, it's hard to decide between Tres Leches Cake or No-Bake Frozen Margarita Pie!
With its quick and easy assembly and its melty layers of chicken, cheese, and creamy from-scratch sauce, this Chicken Enchilada Casserole is guaranteed to be a hit!
Hope you get to try it soon. 🙂
More Tex-Mex Dinner Ideas
- Slow Cooker Beef Barbacoa
- Tamale Pie
- Mexican Meatloaf Muffins
- Baked Chicken Taquitos with Avocado Cilantro Dipping Sauce
- Mexican Cornbread Casserole
Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Ingredients
- 4 cups chicken, cooked and shredded
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1 cup milk
- 1 ½ cups chicken broth OR stock, DIVIDED
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 cup salsa verde (green salsa)
- 1 cup sour cream
- Salt & freshly ground pepper, to taste
- 12 corn tortillas, quartered
- 8 ounces grated Monterey Jack cheese
- 1 (4-ounce) can diced green chiles
Instructions
- Adjust rack to center position of oven. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly spray a 9- by 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
- Make the white sauce by melting butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Add the garlic to the pot and saute until fragrant and light golden brown, about 1 minute. Stir in the flour and whisk continuously for 1 minute. Slowly and gradually whisk in milk and ½ cup chicken stock. Increase heat to medium and stir continuously for several minutes until sauce is smooth and thickened. Remove pot from the heat and stir in cumin, garlic powder, and chili powder. Stir in the salsa verde and the sour cream until smooth. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste.
- Evenly scatter half of the shredded chicken in the bottom of the baking dish. Dollop half of the sauce on top of the chicken and use the back of a spoon to spread it in an even layer. Arrange half of the corn tortilla quarters on top, overlapping slightly and tearing in half to fill in any gaps, if necessary. Sprinkle half of the grated cheese on top. Drizzle the entire surface with ½ cup of the remaining chicken broth, including corners and edges. Repeat layers of chicken, sauce, tortillas, cheese, and the final ½ cup broth. Evenly sprinkle diced green chiles over the top of the casserole.
- Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 30 minutes, until hot and bubbly.
Video
Notes
- You may use leftover chicken or cook it fresh by poaching, baking, grilling, cooking in the slow cooker, etc. I typically cook 4 (medium-sized) frozen chicken breasts for this recipe. Alternatively, a rotisserie chicken torn into chunks yields about 4 cups.
- For the sauce, you may use all-purpose flour, whole wheat pastry flour, or a gluten-free flour blend.
- You may use whole milk, 2%, low-fat milk, or your favorite unsweetened non-dairy milk (such as almond).
- For extra kick, you may use pepper jack cheese in lieu of the Monterey Jack.
Nutrition
Post originally published on June 27, 2016, and updated on March 11, 2022.
I doubled the recipe a month ago and froze half. We had the leftovers from the freezer last night and they were amazing! Thank you so much for this recipe!
This casserole was an instant hit in our house! I need to make two of them next time and freeze one. It's a time saver!
I was really excited to try this. I'm a pretty good cook and was having several friends over for our monthly dinner party. This is not a good recipe. It's like mush. Everyone agreed. Even the kids ate the red enchilada dish I made as a last minute extra. I'm sorry but this was terrible
I'm really sorry to hear that, Kristen...most comments for this recipe have been positive. It's definitely a soft casserole but it shouldn't be mushy. I wonder if it could have had something to do with the particular corn tortillas used? At any rate, I hate that it wasn't enjoyed by your family and guests.
Did you use flour or corn tortillas? Flour tortillas would make it mushy for sure.
oh yum! I'm all about the tex mex casseroles. This one was so great!
I doubled the recipe for our large Sunday family dinner. They loved it!! I made it the day before and was worried it would dry out or not reheat well but it was fabulous. I let it sit out
on the counter for a couple hours so it was not stone cold going into the oven. I made it gluten free as my grand son in law has celiac disease. I cooked 8 well seasoned chicken breasts in two batches in my IP for
8 minutes and let it natural release. The best part was the chicken broth left in the IP that I then used in the recipe. This way you don’t need to buy chicken broth. I love making your own sauce as canned soup
has wheat products. This will become a regular family favorite. One grandson is a firefighter paramedic and cooks sometimes for the crew so he is going to make this for them.
I made this tonight for a Halloween Pot Luck. Unfortunately, I did NOT even get to taste it because by the time I made it through the line, it was GONE!!! But everyone was commenting on how GREAT it smelled before they dug into it. Dang it! I THINK it was good!!! And judging by how much was left (NONE) I am thinking it was GREAT!! I totally forgot to add the fresh cilantro I had in the fridge which I feel would have made it even better. I follow the recipe EXACTLY. Thanks for a successful potluck dish!!! Anne in Oregon.
Ha ha...yay, Anne! So happy it was a hit! Next time be sure to sneak yourself a slice first. 😉
Can this be a freezer meal?
Yes! I would assemble the casserole (without baking) and then tightly wrap it really well to prevent freezer burn. Freeze for up to a month or two. Move it to the refrigerator to thaw 24 hours ahead of time and then bake as directed. Hope that helps! 🙂
I made this with a twist. Instead of tortillas I used al dente lasagne noodles and made it a mexican lasagna. Husband and neighbors said was delicious!!! I would post a pic but I'm an idiot lol. Definitely a keeper!!!
What a great idea, Melisa...I'm going to have to try that next time! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Just wanted to drop by to say hello and tell you that I discovered your recipe a couple years ago and everyone I make it for begs me for the recipe! It has become my secret weapon at school-related functions (I'm a teacher) and now most of my co-workers are making this recipe for their own families! My now-husband loves it and will eat it for breakfast the next day until it's all gone! Thanks for sharing it with the world!
Awww, I'm so happy to hear that, Whitney! I'm glad that this recipe has been enjoyed by so many in your circle. Thanks for taking the time to let me know! 🙂
Can this be made in advance and popped into the oven when ready? If so, how far ahead? Hoping for a couple of hours ahead without changing integrity of the dish. Thanks.
Prepping this recipe a couple hours before baking should be fine, Brenda. 🙂
I’m Hispanic and this dish, which I really really like, is not one we grew up with....I just finished feeding it to my family and a few of their friends and it was a big hit!!!! One of the girls asked that I send it to her mom so she can make it AND she’s the picky friend.
I love the flavors, especially the homemade sauce,....it makes a big big difference....will keep as my go to AND will pass it on!!! Thank you for sharing!!!
I just made this and put it in the freezer for when my husband returns from out of town next week. As someone that was born and raised in the southwest, I wanted to say how good I know this will be. The sauce tastes wonderful, and I think your trick of adding the chicken broth over the casserole will keep it moist.
Marie- you can healthy it up a bit by omitting the tortillas, swapping sour cream for plain non-fat Greek yogurt and cutting the amount of milk, butter and cheese. Overall, this recipe is really just chicken, cheese and salsa so it's more on the healthy side than it seems.
My "non-enchilada eating" family loved this....it was even better the next day!
Yay! I'm glad this recipe passsed their test, Carrie. 😉 And I agree...leftovers of this casserole are the best!
Definitely one of my favorites in your fabulous book.
You are too sweet, Anne. 🙂
This recipe sounds delish!! Has anyone tried making it with shrimp instead of chicken? This will be tonight's dinner for sure! Thank you for sharing your deliciousness!! ❤️
This was fabulous. Great as a cool-weather casserole dish. Thanks for sharing.
This casserole was amazing!! You just combined two of my favorite dinners 😉